The Melancholy of Fiorenze & Adelaide, Tag Alongs
by WrittenByTheInsaneFluba
Summary: Sorry about the title. Anyway, Fiorenze and Adelaide Holland are adoptees of high class bluebloods and best friends with Alice. What happens when they go with her to Underland during Alice's second visit and meet a certain hatter and knave? IS/OC & MH/OC
1. Of Parties, Proposals, and Rabbit Holes

**This is a repeat song!**

**Lolz, not really... it's just another Mad Hatter/OC and Stayne/OC fanfiction. Haha!**

*****_**Disclaimer: I do not own Alice in Wonderland or any of its characters. I do own Adelaide and Fiorenze.**_

* * *

Adelaide Holland sat next to her twin sister Fiorenze and sighed heavily. She hated her father for making her come, but feared to object him. Only one good thing would come of this in her opinion, and that was seeing Alice Kingsleigh.

Adelaide's and Fiorenze's adoptive mother, Mrs. Snowden Holland née Carolina Hayes had died of tuberculosis when she was about ten, which was near ten years ago. Fiorenze, of course, was in fact Adelaide's real, genuine twin. Both were supposedly born March of 1845, though they couldn't remember anything before 1850. They had always treated the fourth of March as their birthday and that was that. Sometimes faint flashes of a land with dodo birds, white rabbits in waist-coats and two elder girls with white and red hair would fill their dreams, but alas they left and the girls forgot. For the past ten years Fiorenze and Adelaide have been in the care of their father and, up until five years ago, the care of the second Mrs. Snowden Holland née Penelope Cuttings.

Adelaide fixed the skirt of her red satin dress and looked at her twin. Fiorenze looked at Adelaide with her unusual lavender eyes and slightly frowned. "Let me guess, Tristan Schoonmaker was a horrid dancer and stepped on your foot every three seconds?" Adelaide glared at her sister with her dark gold eyes.

"That and he was trying to convince me to court with him," Adelaide told Fiorenze with a slight growl in her voice. Fiorenze twirled her pure black hair slightly and then stood up. "Where are you going?"

"I believe Alice has just arrived," Fiorenze replied as she walked over to the steps with a bounce in her step that caused her black dress to flutter behind her. Adelaide turned her head and caused some of her incredibly dark red (and it was, in fact, red-red as in the color of the rainbow red) hair to spin into her tanned face. There walking down the stairs was Alice Kingsleigh, the only genuine friend of Adelaide and Fiorenze. Adelaide ran closely behind her twin and stop as abruptly as her overly-eccentric twin did. She let a gasp escape her thick and full lips and nearly stumbled onto the ground.

"Fiorenze!" Adelaide hissed. Alice merely laughed and looked at her two friends.

"Nice to see you too Adelaide," Alice giggled. "I love your dresses you two. Different from the rest of the boring white ones." Adelaide looked at her red dress. It was corseted by the demand of her adoptive step-mother and had short, slightly puffed, sleeves. The top was slightly bunched up and was separated from the bottom by a that sash that tied into a bow in the back. The bottom half of the dress wasn't spectacular, as it was solid red all the way to the bottom, except for the two black bows on the side.

Fiorenze's black dress was also corseted, though it wasn't very much approved by most of the ladies there. the top of the dress was covered with lace, with said lace making up the sleeves of the dress. There was a black top underneath that covered the corset. The skirt came down in layers of ruffles, stopping just above her ankles.

"You look amazing too Alice," Fiorenze complemented. "I always did say that blue was your color, and I was right to the furthest extent." Some music started playing and a man began to call for back of the dress had a column of white buttons going down the back.

"Alice!" he called. The red-headed son of Lord Ascot, Hamish, whom Adelaide loathed, walked arrogantly up to Alice and turned a slight sneer to the Misses Hollands. "I must apologize Misses Adelaide and Fiorenze Holland, but I must steal Alice for a while so we can dance. It is what people who are courting one another do." Adelaide knew the comment was aimed for her.

"And again I must say that I was right to refuse your offer to court me," Adelaide replied with a slight hiss. Hamish glared at the dark-red-haired girl and walked off with Alice on his arm. Then of course Edward "Teddy" Wetmore came up and asked for Fiorenze's hand in dance. Fiorenze accepted and walked away with Mr. Wetmore.

"May I have the pleasure of dancing with such a lovely lady?" a man's voice asked her. Adelaide turned around and saw Mr. Henry Carins smiling at her.

"You may Mr. Carins," Adelaide replied. Quadrille started up and she began to dance. The people across from her were Fiorenze and Mr. Wetmore. As she was dancing Alice ran into her. She gasped slightly, but regained her balance.

"I'm sorry Miss Holland, Miss Kingsleigh is distracted today," Hamish carelessly called out.

"When is she not?" Henry silently chuckled. Adelaide rolled her eyes and continued to dance. When she saw Alice being pulled to the side by Hamish, she stopped and walked off with Henry following her trail. "Are you alright Miss Holland?"

"Yes, I just tire of dancing," Adelaide answered. "Would you excuse me for a moment?" Henry nodded his head and Adelaide left. A few moments later Fiorenze showed up.

"Just so you know, the secret's out. Alice knows," Fiorenze reported.

"Faith and Fiona Chattaway?"

"Yes." Adelaide groaned. Those two twins were such chatterboxes, unlike the Holland twins, who were mostly silent… and that part never silent was Fiorenze. Alice's sister Margaret was now talking with Alice, and then Lady Ascot took Alice away on a stroll through the maze-like garden. A few minutes later Alice came out and began to speak with her aunt Imogene. Then she pointed to a row of bushes. Both Fiorenze and Adelaide saw the flash of a white rabbit… in a waistcoat.

"Did you see-"

"Yes," Adelaide replied. Then Hamish appeared before Fiorenze with a slight smile, and then glared at Adelaide before smiling to Fiorenze again.

"Have you see my dear Alice?" he asked.

"Over there," Fiorenze replied. Hamish smiled and went off to get Alice. The crowd started to gather at the gazebo, so naturally the Holland twins made their way to the front and stood next to the Chattaway twins. Hamish bend down onto one knee and held out his hands for Alice to take. She did hake his hands and looked at Hamish in a mix of worry and expectancy.

"Alice Kingsleigh…" he started.

"Hamish?" Alice replied.

"What is it?" he asked.

"You have a caterpillar on your shoulder," Alice replied. Adelaide looked towards his shoulder and saw a blue caterpillar residing on it. Hamish made a face of disgust while Alice took the caterpillar and set in on the outside of the gazebo. Hamish took a breath before starting again.

"Alice Kingsleigh," Hamish started again. "Will you be my wife?" Alice appeared to be thinking about her answer.

"Well, everyone expects me too," Alice started, "and you're a lord, my face won't last, and I don't want to end up like…" she looked over at her aunt Imogene. "But this is happing so quickly. I… I think I…" she looked over to her right and saw something. Adelaide and Fiorenze saw what she was looking at.

A white rabbit, in a waist-coat, holding up a pocket watch and pointing to it.

"I think I…" Alice stuttered. "I need a moment." She then ran off in the direction of the rabbit. Fiorenze started after Alice, so Adelaide had no choice but to follow her twin. It was very obvious Alice was following the rabbit, but that apparently didn't stop Fiorenze. They zipped through the gardens. They then arrived to a rabbit hole by a tree.

"Alice!" Fiorenze called out. The blonde turned and sighed in relief to see her two best friends.

"I need to take a look, okay?" Alice told them.

"For the rabbit in the waistcoat?" Adelaide asked. "We saw it too Alice."

"Good, that means I'm not going mad," Alice giggled. She peered into the rabbit hole and then out of nowhere she fell in.

"Alice!" Fiorenze called out. She jumped into the rabbit hold feet first and wasn't seen. Adelaide knew something was up. She slid into the rabbit hold only to find out one thing.

Alice, Fiorenze and she were all falling.

* * *

Fiorenze had no idea how a rabbit hold could be so deep, or filled with some much floating junk.

She screamed slightly, which was rare due to the fact that she took thrill in almost anything potentially life threatening. Below her Alice was freaking out and above her Adelaide was screaming her head off. Clocks whizzed past her head, and roots hung out. Alice tried to grab one, but it slipped out of her grasp. That idea failed. By now their hair was out of their neatly made buns. Fiorenze's curly black hair flew around her head as well Adelaide's straight dark-red hair along with Alice's wavy blonde hair.

Chairs, tables, even candles flew by Fiorenze's head. They continued to fall, and one by one the girls bounced off a bed. Needless to say, the still continued falling. Finally, after another thirty something seconds of falling they all crashed though something and landed on a floor of some sort. They sat up and Fiorenze felt her hair stick up and blood rush to her head. She saw a chandelier hanging up. Wait... up? That's when she realized they weren't on a floor.

They were on a ceiling.

The room seemed to flip and the three landed on the floor-floor… not the ceiling-floor. They slowly stood up and examined the room. There were various doors, a table and a chandelier with candles on it.

"Um… what just happened?" Adelaide asked. Fiorenze was wondering the same.

What _did _happen?

* * *

**It would have been longer but I got tired and lazy, plus it seemed like a good place to stop. Don't want too many scenes in a chapter. Review, favorite and alert! Add it to a C2 if you want. ;-D**


	2. Entering Underland

**Ready for Chapter two? I know I am...**

**Sorry for the long wait. I'm using my DVD player to get it close to, but not exactly like, the movie, and it broke for a while. So... yeah.**

**Warning: LOOOOOONG chapter.**

*****_**Disclaimer: I do not own Alice in Wonderland or any of its characters. I do own Adelaide and Fiorenze. So take them and you die.**_

* * *

Fiorenze looked around the room and scanned for some clues as to how to get out while Adelaide and Alice were trying to open doors to no avail. Fiorenze was searching for a thing to get them out and wonder how a rabbit hole could be so deep. "This is probably not a rabbit hole then?" Fiorenze asked the other two girls. Adelaide glared at her sister and rolled her eyes.

"No duh," the dark red-haired girl snapped.

"No need to be snippy, it was but a question..." Fiorenze uttered under her breath. Then Fiorenze walked over towards the little table in the room and saw a tiny key. "Would a key help you with opening a door?" Fiorenze held up the tiny key and gave it to Alice. She smiled and walked over to the doors, trying the key on all of them. She then came to a red curtain, and pulled it down, only to reveal a door barely under two feet.

"If that's the door the key goes into I'm going to swear so many times it won't be funny," Adelaide grumbled. Alice put the key into the door, and to everyone's un-surprise it fit and the door opened. Adelaide kept her promise and let out a flurry of colorful words. Alice tried to fit herself through the door and only got a head and arm through. Frustrated, Alice sat down and somewhat pouted. "Did you honestly think that you could squeeze through that door?"

"It was worth a shot," Alice replied. She looked at the table and pointed to something. "What's that drink?" Fiorenze turned around and looked at teh solitary table in the room. On there was a bottle which read, 'Drink me.'

"I have no idea, but I get the feeling we should drink it," Fiorenze responded. Alice walked towards the table and looked at the bottle, as well as Adelaide. "Whose drinking it?" Alice shrugged and picked up the bottle. She uncapped and smelled it. Fiorenze could easily smell why Alice wrinkled her nose in disgust. It smelt horrible.

"It's only a dream, right?" Alice asked her two friends. Fiorenze and Adelaide exchanged uncertain glances. Before Fiorenze could argue against her friend, Alice began to cough. As she coughed, she shrunk. When she was completely shrunken, she climbed out from under her dress and tightened her under-dress to keep herself covered. She ran to the door and shook the handle, but once again it was lock. "Drat..."

"To be honest Alice, did you really think it'd still be unlocked?" Adelaide asked.

"Maybe," Alice replied in a slightly higher pitched voice. Fiorenze then giggled.

"I apologize, but your voice sounds so weird right now," Fiorenze giggled. She picked up the key Alice set on the table and handed it to mini-Alice. In the process she stepped on a little box. "What the-" she then picked up the little glass box and saw a cake that said, 'eat me.' "Alice, while you unlock the door, I'm going to see what the little cake does."

"Dear Lord, help my idiotic sister as she does yet something else stupid," Adelaide prayed under her breath. Alice stopped walking to the door to actually see what the cake did. Fiorenze picked up the cake between her thumb and her index finger and took the tiniest bite. At once she began to grow. Her overdress broke off of her revealing her under-dress which now clung very tightly to her body. Adelaide and Alice at once burst out laughing.

"Not funny!" Fiorenze choked out. "Give me that shrinky-drink." Adelaide handed her twin the shrinking drink. Fiorenze took a drink of it and at once turned to Alice's size. She made her now baggy under-dress a one-shouldered dress to keep it on herself. "Come on Addy! You've got to drink it. You know you've got to!" Adelaide rolled her eyes and hesitantly drank the shrinking drink. She shrank to the size of the other two. Alice unlocked the door and opened it. Fiorenze and Alice at once walked through the door, but Adelaide ran back for some of the growing cake.

"Why-" Alice started.

"Because we may need it later on," Adelaide replied. "Shall we head off into a place that none of us knew existed until five seconds ago?"

"Yes Miss Sunshine," Fiorenze sarcastically giggled. They hesitantly ducked under the door and stepped out into a land that was brighter, weirder and somewhat more amazing than any land any fairy tale had described.

Everywhere they looked there was a bright blue sky hidden behind grey and white clouds. Leafless tress were all contorted, some leaning to the right, others leaning to the left. Flowers and mushrooms of many colors grew along the faded stone path that lead from the door to an old gateway with a stone arch and a black gate. All of a sudden what seemed like a pig ran in front of the three. There were bushes shaped as many different things like flamingos and whatnot. A little bug buzzed by Fiorenze's ear, and she saw that it was a flying rocking horse. "A rocking horse fly?" Adelaide whispered to her twin. Something flew in front of Adelaide, and she widened her eyes.

"A dragon fly?" Fiorenze breathed out.

"Curiouser and curiouser," Alice muttered. The group of three continued to take in the sights when Adelaide turned around and gasped. The other two girls followed suit. There in front of them were two bald and pudgy boys(?) wearing black and white striped shirts, red suspenders and brown paints, a dormouse wearing a pink outfit of some sort, a blue dodo bird and a white rabbit in a waist-coat. Oh, and was it mentioned that there were flowers... with faces?

"I told you she was the right Alice," the rabbit told the mouse.

"I am not convinced," the mouse sneered. "And what about those other two, eh?"

"Hows that for gratitude!" the rabbit snapped. "I've been up there for weeks trailing one Alice after the other while being nearly eaten by other animals! Can you imagine it? They go entirely unclothed and do their... uh... shukm, in public! I had no other option but to avert my eyes. As for those other two girls... I'm trying to figure out how I attracted their attention."

"She doesn't look anything like herself!" A flower commented.

"That's because she's the wrong Alice!" the mouse exclaimed.

"If she is she might be," Pudgy-A muttered.

"But if she isn't she ain't," Pudgy-B uttered back.

"But if she were so she would be," Pudgy-A argued back.

"But she isn't, nohow," Pudgy-B pointed out. Fiorenze and Adelaide exchanged glances.

"How can I be the wrong Alice when this is my dream?" Alice asked.

"Um... Alice, how do we put this lightly... THIS IS NOT A DREAM!" Fiorenze shouted to her friend.

"And you are?" Adelaide asked the five people in front of them.

"Oh, I'm Tweedledee and he's Tweedledum," Tweedledee (a.k.a Pudgy-A) replied.

"We should consult Absolem," the dodo advised. There were murmurs of agreement with the flowers.

"I'll escort you," Tweedledum told the three girls.

"Hey, it's not being your turn!" Tweedledee argued. They then began to yank on the arms of Alice and Adelaide. Luckily Fiorenze was in the middle. "Unfair!"

"Let go!"

"Leave off!"

"It's being my turn!" Fiorenze turned to the white rabbit as the two continued to argue.

"Are they always like this?" Fiorenze asked.

"Family trait," the rabbit replied in annoyance. "You can both escort them!"

* * *

Adelaide looked around the forest once more.

It had been a total of five minutes since she nearly had her arms yanked out by the Tweedles.

"Who is this Absolem anyway?" Fiorenze asked.

"He's wise... he's absolute..." the rabbit (Nivens McTwisp as she learned his name was along the way) told them.

"He's Absolem," the Tweedles responded coherently. As they approached what seemed like a very smoky mushroom, Nivens turned to Adelaide.

"Through all this I have yet to know the names of you and that other girl," he told her.

"Oh, um, I'm Adelaide. My twin sister over there is Fiorenze," the red-haired girl introduced. At once the mouse (Mallymkun was her name) and Nivens froze and exchanged glances.

"Interesting... very interesting..." Nivens responded. The got as close as they could to the smoke, and when the stopped the smoke cleared to reveal a bright blue caterpillar. It had to be Absolem.

"Who are you?" he asked in a slightly alluring yet lazy voice.

"Alice," Alice responded.

"And you two friends?" Absolem asked.

"Adelaide and Fiorenze," Alice answered. The two girls nodded their heads when the blue caterpillar looked at them for confirmation. He then turned back to Alice and stared blankly at her.

"We shall see if you are Alice," Absolem uttered as he blew a ring of smoke.

"What do you mean by that?" Fiorenze asked. "She ought to know who she is, and both Adelaide and I are pretty sure that we know who our best friend in the universe is."

"Yes, she _ought_ to know who she is," Absolem snapped. "Unroll the Oraculum." Nivens and Mallymkun hopped over to a scroll which lied on a row of even-heighted mushrooms. When Nivens saw the confused looks on the faces of Adelaide, Fiorenze and Alice, he started to explain.

"The Oraculum, being a calendrical compendium of Underland," the rabbit told the three.

"Is that where we are then? Underland?" Fiorenze asked.

"Yes," Absolem replied.

"And that's a calender?" Adelaide asked.

"Compendium, stupid girl," Absolem corrected. "It tells of every day, _each _and every day, since the beginning."

"Today is Griblig day in the time of the Red Queen," Nivens told them.

"What's that day back there?" Fiorenze asked. Nivens and Adelaide looked at the spot where Fiorenze was pointing to. On that picture there were two girls that seemed to be at the age of five being sucked up a hole.

"That was Recerapased day... the day the Queens of Red and White lost their younger sisters," Nivens explained.

"Yes, sad day that was... but I am very sure that the Oserger day is soon coming... the day of their true return," Absolem told them. "Show them the Frabjous day."

"Frabjous being the day Alice slays the Jabberwocky," Tweedledum told them. All three turned to the Tweedle and widened their eyes in alarm.

"She has to slay a what now?" Fiorenze asked.

"That being you there with the Vorpal sword," Tweedledee added on.

"No other sword can kill the Jabberwocky," Tweedledum continued.

"If it ain't Vorpal it ain't dead," Tweedledee finished. Alice shook her head and backed away.

"That's not me!" she shouted.

"I know!" Mallymkun agreed.

"Resolve this for us Absolem, is she the right Alice?" Nivens asked.

"Not hardly," Absolem answered as he disappeared in a gust of smoke.

"I told ya!" Mallymkun snapped.

"Oh dear..." Nivens muttered.

"I said so!" Tweedledee pointed out.

"_I _said so!" Tweedledum argued.

"Contrariwise you said she might be," Tweedledee informed his brother. Adelaide and Fiorenze were backing up with Alice as she looked around in fear.

"You said she might be if she was!" Tweedledum countered. Nivens sighed.

"I was so certain of you..." Nivens muttered.

"I'm sorry!" Alice apologized. "I don't mean to be the wrong Alice." She then paused. "Wait- this is my dream. I'm going to wake up now and you'll all disappear."

"Alice, this is no dream," Adelaide told her friend. Alice didn't listen and closed her eyes and pinched herself. When she opened her eyes again, she was surprised to see everyone still there. "Told you."

"That's odd, pinching usually does the trick," Alice muttered.

"I could stick you if that would help," Mallymkun offered. Fiorenze and Adelaide shook their heads at Alice in an attempt to tell her not to let Mallymkun do it.

"It might actually, thank you!" Alice replied. The twin girls face-palmed themselves.

"My pleasure!" Mallymkun responded with a smirk. Mallymkun stabbed Alice in the foot and the blonde yelled out in pain. All of a sudden, a growling was heard.

"Oh no," Fiorenze squeaked out. "That is not sounding good." All of a sudden, a giant beast which resembled a leopard/bulldog/lizard appeared and growled at everyone there.

"BANDERSNATCH!" The Tweedles yelled. Then everyone began to run as what appeared to be armored red cards ran into the picture. One by one all of the flamingos, plus Nivens and the Dodo bird got captured by the red card soldiers. Adelaide pulled out that growing cake and stopped. Fiorenze and Alice looked at her.

"Are you crazy?" Fiorenze asked.

"I have to try and distract them so you guys can get away," Adelaide told them. She took a very small bite of the growing cake and dropped it to the ground as she grew and ran at the same time. "Wish me luck, and get out of here!" She hugged the miniature version of her twin and ran a different direct, back to where the cards were. She hid behind bushes and trees to avoid capture. At one point she heard a loud roar and realized that the Bandersnatch wasn't following her. "Great... so much for that plan... what now Adelaide, what now?" She then remembered. The Oraculum. Whoever these guys were, they couldn't have been good. If they knew what was to come... She sprinted off back towards Absolem's keep and looked around. She saw the Oraculum and went to get it, but before she could she felt an arm force her back. "Not good."

"Who are you?" a mans voice asked her. She turned around and saw a very tall man, maybe around seven and a half feet tall with pure black hair. He had one very dark red eye with the concealed by a very large scar across his face and a black eye patch in the shape of a heart. He wore dark armor and had a serious and dark tone to his voice.

"A-Adelaide," Adelaide stammered. His eye widened in shock.

"Do you by any chance have a twin?" he asked her.

"Yeah. Her name's Fiorenze," she replied uncertainly. He bit his lower lip.

"Let me see your eyes," he at once instructed.

"What's that going to-"

"Show me your eyes!" Adelaide looked at his eye as he observed hers. He dropped his jaw slightly and then smirked. "The Queen will be happy about this... and also that." he pointed to the Oraculum which was by Adelaide's feet. He motioned for her to grab it, and since he pretty much had her captured she had to obey. "I hope you have no plans Miss Adelaide, because your coming with me."

"You say what now?" she asked. Suddenly she was thrown onto a freakishly tall horse, whom the strange man climbed on moments later.

"I would hold onto me if I were you," he whispered to her. As the horse started galloping at a rapid speed, she took the guys advice and clung to his waist.

"And, you are?" she asked. He looked at her and smirked.

"Ilosovic Stayne, Knave of Hearts to the Red Queen."


	3. The Red Sisters?

**Ready for Chapter three? I know I am...**

**Sorry for the long wait. Again. Very busy w/ homework and other stuff.**

*****_**Disclaimer: I do not own Alice in Wonderland or any of its characters. I do own Adelaide and Fiorenze. So take them and you die.**_

* * *

"So, where exactly are we?" Adelaide asked Ilosovic.

"Crims. Heading towards the palace of the Red Queen in Salazen Grum," he replied monotonically and without turning to face her. At once Adelaide's eyes widened and she knew she was in deep trouble.

"I'm in trouble, aren't I?" Adelaide asked with a slight gulp and fear in her eyes. Ilosovic turned to her and narrowed his eye.

"It depends on how she takes to your arrival in Underland," the incredibly tall knave told her.

"I don't understand," Adelaide responded. Ilosovic rolled his eyes and face forward again.

"Let me put in simple terms, if she takes to your arrival well, you won't go into prison or die. If she doesn't, then you'll most likely go into prison or lose your head," Ilosovic explained. Adelaide gasped and subconsciously moved a hand to her neck. "You need not worry. The odds are in your favor as the queen will most likely take to your arrival very well."

"Why?" Adelaide asked. Ilosovic turned to her and narrowed his eye in confusion.

"You really don't know... do you?" Ilosovic inquired with genuine sincerity in his tone.

"Know what?"

"I'll explain later," Ilosovic told her as he snapped the reigns of his horse and turned away from her. Adelaide resisted the urge to swear and groan and merely stared ahead. Minutes later she heard a loud battle squawk from some sort of bird. She saw the bird, made up of grey and red color for a mere second... and she recognized what it was carrying. The two tweedles. She looked at the direction in which the bird flew and saw a somewhat amazing sight.

Between the barren red-brown rocks, there lied a castle. The walls appeared to be white with faint tints of pink and the roofing was red. The towers shot to the skies and Adelaide could see a heart shape in the castle. Red flags hung from the tops of the towers, and red soldiers wandered the ground. "The Castle of the Red Queen in Salazen Grum." Adelaide looked at Ilosovic, whose eyepatch was now... red?

"Your eyepatch is red. Was it not black mere minutes ago?" Adelaide asked.

"I replace my black eyepatch with a red one when in the palace of the queen," Ilosovic explained as he held out his black eyepatch for her to see. "Anyway, before you are introduced to the Queen, we should probably get you some new attire. The attire you have on is not particularly suitable." Adelaide blushed and looked down to the side in embarrassment. The horse then stopped and Ilosovic dismounted. He assisted Adelaide in her dismount of the horse and then looked at another one of those card guards. This one was a 9. "Get some long fabric of any sort and cord and bring it back here... as fast as possible." The guard nodded and ran off.

"Who's the Red Queen?" Adelaide asked. Ilosovic widened his eye and drew a breath to begin the explanation.

"Her true name is Iracebeth of Crims, but to everyone around here she's known as the Red Queen," he started. "Her sister, Mirana of Marmoreal used to be queen, but power went Iracebeth when she claimed the crown. Before you meet the queen, you should know that she has a temper which only I can calm for now, calls out beheadings when in said temper, and is easily offended by remarks to the size of her head. She has a head size around three to four times the size of a normal head. I don't even know why it's that big, but it is not filled with merely hot air. So as long as you respect her and don't mention her head, then you should be okay."

"Okay," Adelaide replied. The 9 card guard came up to Ilosovic and handed him some red fabric with some bits of black on it as well as the black cord. He tossed it lazily to Adelaide, who at once began to cover herself. She was able to form the fabric into a one-shouldered dress and tied the cord around her waist to keep it in place. Ilosovic looked at her and smiled somewhat.

"Good. Now follow me, and don't speak unless spoken to," Ilosovic instructed her. Adelaide nodded and followed Ilosovic. The entered the palace and walked through a maze of hallways. "When you've been here for as long as I have you know the hallways like the back of your hand. The same cannot be said for strangers to the palace. Don't get lost." Adelaide once again nodded and subconsciously moved closer to Ilosovic. At last they were in a room. Most of the view was hidden behind a curtain, but she could clearly see a throne in front of her. "She seems to be calm right now."

"OFF WITH HIS HEAD!" the voice of a woman shouted. Adelaide looked at Ilosovic with narrowed eyes. Ilosovic lowered his gaze and bit his lower lip.

"I spoke too soon."

"You think?"

"Remember what I said earlier? About not talking? Please continue with those instructions." Adelaide rolled her eyes and listened as the person who was going to be beheaded begged for mercy, speaking of his family. Adelaide couldn't catch what the queen had said next, but she caught something about tadpoles on toast and caviar. She saw the Red queen sit on her throne and at once request a drink. Adelaide's eyes jumped open when she saw the queen's head. Ilosovic wasn't kidding when he said it was enormous. Ilosovic gave her an, 'I-told-you-so' look and then walked towards the queen, motion for Adelaide to stay where she was.

"Your Majesty," Ilosovic whispered to Iracebeth.

"Ilosovic Stayne... you knave," Iracebeth giggled as Ilosovic kissed her hand. "Where have you been lurking?"

"Your Majesty, I have found something and someone you might be interested in," Ilosovic reported. He took out the Oraculum and unrolled it in front of the Queen.

"That? It looks so ordinary. Hardly anything spectacular about it," Iracebeth replied in disappointment.

"Your Majesty, this is the Oraculum. The complete compendium of Underland's past and future," Ilosovic told her. Iracebeth eyebrows shot up and she looked at the Oraculum with more interest. "Look at the Frabjous day." The Queen did as told and narrowed her eyes.

"I'd know that tangled mess of hair anywhere," she murmured. "Is it Alice?"

"I believe so," Ilosovic confirmed.

"What's she doing to my Jabberwocky?" Iracebeth asked.

"She appears to be slaying it." Iracebeth turned to Ilosovic in fear and went pink in the face.

"She killed my Jabber-baby-wocky!" she hissed in rage.

"No yet, your Majesty... but she will if we don't stop her," Ilosovic told her.

"Find her Stayne," Iracebeth ordered. "Unless of course you already did. You mention you found someone of interest to me?"

"I did, your Majesty," Ilosovic confirmed. He looked at Adelaide and motion for her to come forward. Adelaide did so and bowed before the queen. "Your Majesty, this is Adelaide." Iracebeth's head snapped up from the Oraculum and turned to Adelaide.

"Show me your eyes," Iracebeth told her. Adelaide let her see her eyes, wondering why everyone had been wanting to see them as of late. Iracebeth gasped and stood up. She then hugged Adelaide and squealed.

"Addy! It's really you! I can't believe you're finally back!" the queen squealed in excitement. Adelaide just stood there in confusion.

"Am I missing something?" Adelaide asked. Iracebeth stepped back and looked at Adelaide in confusion. Ilosovic looked down and bit his lower lip again.

"She doesn't know. I wanted to wait for you to confirm this was her to tell her," Ilosovic told Iracebeth.

"Tell me what? Am I finally going to get an explanation as to what's going on?" Adelaide asked.

"Yes. You are now," Ilosovic told her. "Fifteen years ago, the Red and White queen's lost their younger twin sisters, who were about 5 at the time. The names of the twins were Adelaide and Fiorenze. When you said your name was Adelaide, I asked about a twin named Fiorenze, and you said you had a twin with that name. You looked of the right age, and when I saw you had the kind of gold eyes her Majesty described to me, I had a strong feeling you were her. However, I wasn't too sure, so I brought you here. Her Majesty has just confirmed my suspicions and it is now official and clear." He took in a breath and looked into Adelaide's eyes.

"Adelaide, you are in fact the lost sister of her Majesty, the queen of Underland." He bowed to her for a few brief moments and then rose. Adelaide blinked rapidly to process what Ilosovic had just said. She now began a battle to not pass out. _Me? A princess? Of Underland? I always knew Fiorenze and I were different that other people... but the fact that we're supposedly from another world... this world... and we're lost royalty... oh my word..._ Adelaide couldn't process it fast enough and lost the battle of resistance to passing out.

So, naturally, black had filled her vision and lost consciousness.

* * *

Ilosovic looked at the queen, who stood in shock at the fact that her sister a) didn't know who she was b) didn't know who Iracebeth was and c) just passed out. "Well why did she do that?" Iracebeth asked. Ilosovic bit his lower lip as he attempted to come up with some sort of explanation. When one hit him, he said it at once.

"She's had a very trying day, I assume," Ilosovic told the queen. She looked at him in a way that clearly told him to explain further. "Well, she came from the Overland, most likely unexpectedly and is thrust into a world she hardly remembers and knows only as fantasy. Then she finds out that not only is said world real, but she is from this world. Then she finds out she is sister to the queen. That's a lot for a young girl such as herself to mentally process, so she passed out due to the mental strain." Iracebeth seemed to think about what Ilosovic said, and appeared to think it logical.

"That makes sense," Iracebeth agreed. "Stayne, I want you to take her to the best guest quarters we have, for she is my sister. I'll assign some of my female servants to be her servants. Once she is there, I need you to find Alice and Fiorenze. She has to be here if Adelaide is here. I want my younger sisters back, Ilosovic, and I want to find Fiorenze before Mirana corrupts her."

"Yes your Majesty," Ilosovic replied. He then lifted the unconscious girl somewhat bridal-style like and walked down the corridors. He knew exactly the room Iracebeth had told him to take Adelaide to. It took mere minutes for him to find the room, and he opened the carved dark wood doors. He quickly found the bed and laid Adelaide on it. He bent down slightly and looked at Adelaide. He had to admit, she had inherited much beauty from her parents... something he could not say about the Red Queen. Oh how that woman repulsed him. And to think that she had some sort of illusion that he loved her! He breathed in and out and gazed at the unconscious girl in front of him.

"A very trying day indeed, your highness," he muttered before standing up and walking out of the room. He quickly found his way to the stables and saddled his horse, Nightwish. The horse looked at his master and let out the closest thing to a smirk that he could.

"Is that girl still alive? And is she in fact the queen's sister?" the horse asked. Ilosovic narrowed his eye, and quickly replaced his red eyepatch with his black one.

"Yes to both... however she is currently unconscious due to a fainting spell," Ilosovic told Nightwish. He motioned for one of the 5 card guards to come over to him.

"Get that dog, what's his name? Bayard? Yes, that's correct. Get the dog Bayard," Ilosovic ordered the guard. He nodded and walked off. "We need his nose to find Princess Fiorenze and Alice." It didn't take more than five minutes for the guards to get the dog, now held back by chain leashes. Ilosovic mounted Nightwish and motioned for the guards to follow him. Once out a ways from the castle, he turned to the dog. "Find the scent of human girl, but not the one in the palace." He paused for a second, know he wouldn't just do it if he was order. "And you'll earn your freedom."

"For my wife and pups too?" Bayard asked. Ilosovic pondered this for a moment, trying to word what he was going to say next.

"Everyone will go home," he told the dog. Ilosovic motioned for the guards to release the dog, and they did so. Bayard sniffed the ground for a scent, and then ran off in a random direction, presumably on the trail of Alice or Fiorenze. When the dog was out of hearing distance as well as most of the guard, Nightwish turned his head to Ilosovic.

"Dogs will believe anything," Nightwish told his master with a slight chuckle. Ilosovic let out a ghost of a laugh in agree. He then whipped Nightwish's reigns, and set off to find Alice or Fiorenze. He would not fail the queen.

After all, execution wasn't very good for him.


End file.
